Our Malaysia under-23 boys didn’t get to the best of starts to their AFC under-23 Championship qualifiers campaign as they lost narrowly to Vietnam on Friday night (27 March).
Influential skipper, Nazirul Naim scored his trademark free kick from 30 yards out in the 33rd minute much to the delight of the cheering home fans in Shah Alam Stadium.
However, the visiting Vietnam team fought back to score both goals right before the interval through Vo Huy Toan in the 38th minute and Nguyen Cong Phuong in the 43rd minute.
The Young Tigers tried to stage a late comeback but was denied by the Golden Star’s defence.
Head coach, Razip Ismail has not lost hope and believes that his fledglings will be even more determined to perform well in the next two matches; Macau (29March) and Japan (31 March).
“In football, anything is possible. I hope this disappointing result will spur the players to do better in the last two matches. I will rotate my players for the Macau match as I need to keep them fresh against Japan,” said Razip.
Group I favorites, Japan meanwhile swept Macau aside 7-0 in the early kick-off.